A Time For Us
by Gaelcelt
Summary: Steve/Bucky slash. Songfiction. After the rescue from the HYDRA base. The song "Un Giorno Per Noi" ("A Day For Us") is based on the love theme of Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film version of "Romeo and Juliet". This is the first of a short series "Our Saga".


These characters are not mine

Steve/Bucky slash. Songfiction. This takes place after the rescue from the HYDRA base. This song is sung by Josh Groban and is a version of the love theme from Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet in 1968.

A Time For Us

Steve had been curled around Bucky since they had left the HYDRA compound, but the rest of the men that he led to safety either took them to be very close friends or they were too happy to be freed to care that Steve and Bucky had been cuddling together.

It was at night when the others slept that the two of them could finally do what they wanted and say what they wanted to say. Although they had to take extra care, they were happy just to hold each other and hear each other speak.

That first night, Steve had wept tears of joy as he hugged Bucky as tightly as he could without hurting him, "You're alive…! Thank god you're alive!" he squeaked, kissing Bucky's face desperately.

"I can't believe that it's you," Bucky gasped, amazed at Steve's newfound size and strength, hardly daring to believe that the serum had worked… hardly daring to believe that the man he loved would risk his life to save him.

"Look at you…!" he gasped, "After all that they did to me, I would have sworn that god sent an angel for me…! You look so different… I was used to the top of your head under my chin."

"It's still me, Bucky…" Steve whispered, his eyes growing wide with apprehension, "I just hope that it doesn't turn you away, because I love you so much and I can't stand the thought of losing you again…!"

Bucky kissed him reassuringly, "You saved me, you risked your life for me, you saved almost all of the men captured… and you're still the same boy that I love. I'm glad that you're as healthy as a horse and that you're here..." his face clouded over, "But since I used to stand up for you, what will I be to you now that you're not that scrawny kid?"

Steve rested his forehead against Bucky's, "I'm not going anywhere. I love you too much to do that to you… it would just destroy me if anything happened to you…!"

_Un giorno sai per noi verrá (__A day will come for us, you know)_

_La libertà di amarci qui senza limiti (__The liberty of loving here without limit)_

_E fiorirá il sogno a noi negato (__And the dream denied us will bloom)_

_Si svelerá l'amor celato oramai (__The love now concealed will be revealed)_

It was several days before they returned to the Ally camp, where Steve was given a hero's welcome. Bucky himself had led the troops in cheering for Steve, but for Steve it was nothing compared to the victory that he had in walking away from HYDRA with Bucky and the surviving troops. He wanted painfully to pull Bucky onto the stage and declare that Bucky was the hero, not him; if not for Bucky, the captured troops would be dead. But he could only grin and bear it.

Steve had showgirls and female army personnel fawning all over him, thanking him with kisses and flirtatious invitations. All the while he felt that he had to keep up this façade, even though he hated it. Every time that he saw Bucky he wanted to embrace him and kiss him shamelessly, to proudly proclaim that this was the man to whom everyone owed their lives and gratitude. Although he'd come to like Peggy Carter, he felt like she was more of a friend, a kindred spirit, than a true love interest. She, for her part, seemed to appreciate his companionship despite his clumsy relationship with women, but she recognized that his feelings for Bucky were intense. Not that she would say anything; they had the Axis forces to worry about, so Steve's feelings for Bucky were nothing of consequence to her. But the secret romance between Captain America and Sergeant Barnes was nonetheless dangerous for both men.

"Why are you still with me, Steve?" Bucky asked at the bar, his wistfulness clear only to Steve, "Now that you're Captain America, now that you can defend yourself, why do you bother with me?"

Steve's heart contracted at such a suggestion. "Because I love you, you idiot," he whispered into Bucky's ear, "That's why".

"I've seen how you act around the showgirls and those secretary broads," Bucky grimaced.

Steve sighed at the thought of the sudden rush of attention from women, "I hate that attention and you know it. I don't want any of those dames; I want _you_."

_Un giorno sai per vivere (__A day, you know, to live)_

_La vita che ci sfugge qui (__The life that escapes us here)_

_Un giorno sai per vivere (__A day, you know, to live)_

_La vita che ci sfugge qui (__The life that escapes us here)_

Steve carried the picture of Peggy with him on missions with the other soldiers, which earned him plenty of jibes. Only Bucky knew that it was a front; only he knew that Steve kept his picture of the two of them in a locket by his dog tags. Morita and Jones had teased Steve for his crush on Peggy, both of them unaware that Steve's true love was footsteps away.

"Bucky?" Steve's voice was gentle as the two of them stepped out of the tavern, brushing past the rest of the boys, "Are you all right? You seem kind of gloomy."

Bucky sighed, "I can't even begin to tell you how much it hurts that we have to act casual around each other, act like we're just very close buds when I just want to hold you and kiss you like there's no tomorrow."

"I know…" Steve whispered, "I want that just as much as you… and I still see you mangled, half-dead in Schmidt's headquarters…! I wake up at night when I hear you moaning in your sleep and it just about kills me that I didn't get there in time to save you from the torture-!" his eyes were glassy and his voice trembled, "Whatever happens Bucky, please remember that I love you."

Bucky nodded, "I can't forget that I love you, no matter how hard I try I just can't forget."

A gentle smile crossed Steve's lips, although his eyes remained glassy, "Come on," he said, "Let's go. Let's just be together tonight."

Bucky smiled as Steve wrapped his arm around his shoulders, instinctively wrapping his own arm around Steve's waist.

_L'amore in noi supererá (__The love in us will overcome)_

_Gli ostacoli e le maree delle avversità (__The obstacles and the tides of adversity)_

_E ci sará anche per noi nel mondo (__And there will also be for us in the world)_

_Un tempo in cui l'amore vincerá (__A time in which love will win)_

_Un tempo in cui l'amore vincerá__ (A time in which love will win)_

Fin


End file.
